For those eagerly seeking signs of the recession’s end, Steven Burd, CEO of Safeway Inc., Pleasanton, Calif., told the Los Angeles Times to keep an eye on coffee. Speaking to investors about Safeway’s third-quarter profit, Burd said shoppers were starting to trade up to more expensive items after a long period in which

Super Quik, Inc., based in flatwoods, K.Y., has been honored as 2009 Convenience Store of the Year during the Kentucky Grocers Association/Kentucky Association of Convenience Stores (KGA/KACS) 68th celebration & annual meeting. KGA/KACS is a joint statewide trade association representing about 550 member companies operating in a retail food and convenience marketplace of

The American Wholesale Marketers Association (AWMA) has approved a three-year plan for its annual convention and expo that includes a series of changes intended to strengthen the value of the show. The decisions were made at the association’s Sept. 14 board of director’s meeting, where, under the direction of AWMA’s Convention & Expo

Quick Chek, a privately-owned, family-operated chain of 120 fresh food store locations throughout New Jersey and southern New York, is celebrating the grand opening of its newest location in Ramsey, N.J. with free coffee. For the first 13 days of business Oct. 27-Nov.8, customers can enjoy free coffee and kids under five feet

St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch and Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo announced this week that they are partnering in order to conduct joint purchasing in the U.S., the St. Louis Business Journal reported. Under the partnership, a team of procurement experts for each company will focus on common areas of spending and negotiate purchases on behalf of

Wawa has teamed up with the Food Bank of Delaware for the annual Check-Out Hunger campaign, a regional fundraiser that takes place in several grocery retailers in the Tri-State area from October through January, the Sussex Countian reported. Customers can make donations of $1, $3 or $5 when they checked out at their

Atlas Oil Company has introduced its new Generator Assurance Plan, which guarantees customers priority access to fuel and delivery during power outages. With this new program, diesel generator users can make sure they have a secure and available supply of diesel fuel to keep back up generators running, in any situation. During

Kwik Trip, headquartered in La Crosse, Wis., is teaming up with the Salvation Army to make sure local people need stay warm this winter, WKBT.com, a La Crosse, Wis. news source, reported. From now until Nov. 8, Kwik Trip stores are collecting gently used coats, boots, hats and gloves for kids and adults as

Kroger is expanding its convenience-store and gas-station presence in central Ohio by bringing its Pennsylvania-based Turkey Hill Minit Market chain to Columbus, the Columbus Dispatch reported. The move to Ohio marks Turkey Hill’s first major expansion outside Pennsylvania. Currently, the 253-store chain’s Martinsville, Ind., location is its only store outside Pennsylvania. All

7-Eleven is expanding its hot foods program to add items such as pepperoni pizza and chicken wings to 115 Dallas-area stores, the Dallas Morning News reported. The program is part of a nationwide rollout that is bringing ovens made by Carrollton’s TurboChef Technologies to 1,400 7-Eleven stores this year. 7-Eleven has offered

Quick Chek, which operates 120 fresh food store locations throughout New Jersey and southern New York, is currently offering flu shots, free of charge, to each of its 2,300 employees. In addition, the company’s new 2009 flu shot program, an extension of its Fit for Life preventive employee health services initiative, also provides

As fall sets in and the weather gets colder, Kum & Go understands the plight of waking up, which prompted it to release its fall promotion Fight Morning Face. The promotion, which began at the start of October and will continue to run through November 30, encourages those with puffy eyes and bad

By Brian L. Milne, Refined Fuels Editor, Telvent DTN The seasonal trend for US retail gasoline prices remains down, but the pace of the decline will likely slow due to climbing crude oil prices. Additionally, oil refiners are expected to throttle back output for maintenance programs through the Thanksgiving holiday, limiting supply that should

Visa hosted a webinar to clarify its PIN pad data encryption policy on Sept 9 led by Ross Snailer and Stoddard Lambertson of Visa’s Payment Risk team, NACS reported. According to Visa, all attended POS and kiosks must be Triple DES (TDES) compliant by July 1, 2010, but that fines to acquirers would

Gilbarco Veeder-Root will be hosting independent PCI consulting firms Coalfire IT Audit and Compliance and W. Capra Consulting Group at NACS. Retailers and their Gilbarco Veeder-Root distributors who have prescheduled appointments will receive 45 minutes of free consulting time, personalized PCI risk assessments and advice on PCI DSS, PA-DSS, and PED plans for

Sheetz has been testing Gilbarco’s Wisdom Intelligent Device Management (IDM) system at multiple sites since May. Pending sustained favorable results seen in the preliminary tests, Sheetz anticipates rolling the solution to all 360 sites across their enterprise. “IDM ties our reporting systems and controls together, while giving us peace of mind that every

The Mega Millions consortium and Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) have reached an agreement to cross-sell Mega Millions and Powerball in all U.S. lottery jurisdictions. Currently each lottery state has Powerball or Mega Millions, but never both. The decision is an agreement in principal. Details need to be worked out to ensure the final

7-Eleven is testing out a new banana strategy at 27 Dallas-area locations, using a new plastic wrap developed by supplier Fresh Del Monte Produce to keep single bananas yellow and firm for five days-more than double the two-day shelf life for an unwrapped banana, ABC News reported. “Our customers want yellow bananas, not

McLane Grocery, a division of McLane Company Inc.’s New Jersey division has received Food Logistics‘ Golden Pallet award for foodservice distribution in the convenience store wholesaler category, Reuters reported. The annual Golden Pallet Awards, sponsored by Food Logistics magazine, are the first industry awards to recognize excellence in warehousing. The award for foodservice distribution

New regulations are being discussed in South Los Angeles to limited the development of new c-stores due to the link between snack foods (found in abundance at c-stores) and obesity in poor communities, the Los Angeles Times reported. The proposed regulations expand on last year’s restrictions on new fast-food restaurants in a 32-square-mile

The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has filed a complaint for permanent injunction against Rel’s Foods Inc. of Oakland, Calif., seeking to stop the company from manufacturing, producing and selling adulterated food products. The complaint also names Rel’s Vice President, Peder Scott Sorensen, and

Hobart, Ind.-based Luke Oil adopted a new logo to symbolize its commitment to customer service, but the chain may have inadvertently replicated a logo stamped on products that are judged kosher, reported the Northwest Indiana Times. The company is changing the logo, after an Orthodox Jewish group filed a trademark infringement suit

On Thursday, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee held a hearing to evaluate the rules that Visa and MasterCard impose on retailers and on the proposed legislation to handle the issue, NACS reported. One solution debated, which is strongly supported by NACS, was the Credit Card Interchange Fees Act of 2009 (H.R. 2382).

The Arizona Department of Transportation is temporarily closing 13 of 18 state-owned rest stops as part of a plan to fix a projected $100 million shortfall in highway user funds, the Arizona Daily Star reported. The closures, which could begin as soon as Oct. 19, are expected to be temporary, Linda Ritter, an Arizona Department

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